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Posted: 2/25/2021 4:35:08 PM EDT
[#1]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge: By Canadian Beekeeper I assume that you are referring to Ian Steppler? I can tell you from first hand experience that he is one funny dude when he has a few beers in him  Jason, After you spoke highly of him and his ways I changed several aspects of my beekeeping ideas. I don't like change in much of anything but I am changing much of what I do now because of your beliefs in Ian!!! The single brood box ideas I tried last year on many of my hives saved me much time in my Apiary. I am sold on that principal now. This year I plan on moving the rest of my Apiaries to the single brood box philosophy. I started feeding the last of my pollen patties today and installed my hivetop feeders as I remove the candy boards. I feel this spring will come in hot and fast!!! |
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Posted: 2/25/2021 4:35:52 PM EDT
[#2]
Post to make the new page work!!!
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Posted: 2/25/2021 11:35:28 PM EDT
[#3]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DUX4LIFE: Jason, After you spoke highly of him and his ways I changed several aspects of my beekeeping ideas. I don't like change in much of anything but I am changing much of what I do now because of your beliefs in Ian!!! The single brood box ideas I tried last year on many of my hives saved me much time in my Apiary. I am sold on that principal now. This year I plan on moving the rest of my Apiaries to the single brood box philosophy. I started feeding the last of my pollen patties today and installed my hivetop feeders as I remove the candy boards. I feel this spring will come in hot and fast!!! Awesome! I was fortunate in that a very good friend/ mentor of mine had been running singles since sometime in the early 80’s. The management while it can be more intensive has many positives. Steppler has it pretty good in that he winters indoors. Maybe one day... I checked on a few nucs a few days ago and everything still had a ton of food left so I will wait a few more weeks and add pollen sub once we get some nicer weather. It’s still in the teens here at night and 20’s during the day. Spring can’t come soon enough. |
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Posted: 2/27/2021 2:48:43 PM EDT
[#4]
First warm(ish) day of 2021 here and I still have some bees!
I have five hives. I wasn’t expecting all five to make it. But looks like 2-3 have some activity. It was nice and sunny earlier in the morning but has become cloudier and breezy. I thinks it’s still too cold to crack them open to have a better look. Was hoping we’d get one of those freak 70 degree days but no luck there it seems for another month. |
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Posted: 3/3/2021 10:16:07 PM EDT
[#5]
We have one hive that we started last year. They made it through our winter so far.
 Checked on them today, and saw life. Still too cold to open up the lid. We are still new to this but made our first winter. Have ordered two more hives for this spring. Definitely enjoying our bees. |
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Posted: 3/3/2021 10:29:42 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Desertshark76239: We have one hive that we started last year. They made it through our winter so far. Checked on them today, and saw life. Still too cold to open up the lid. We are still new to this but made our first winter. Have ordered two more hives for this spring. Definitely enjoying our bees. Not to be a downer, but they haven't made it, yet. I had one hive last year that died a few days after the official start of spring. They were dwindling before that, but they must have become queenless sometime over the winter. |
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Posted: 3/4/2021 7:56:14 PM EDT
[#7]
HobbitWife had the final vote. I'm starting a beehive this year!
Got a Walmart special. The price seemed to be nice; this one includes frames and foundation. I'm going with Langstroth hives this time, rather than the top bar style. I'll have plenty of questions when I get started. Like: How long should I wait to introduce the bees to the hive after I paint it? |
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Posted: 3/4/2021 8:17:11 PM EDT
[#8]
Just let it outgas for a few days after paint. It doesn't take long.
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Posted: 3/9/2021 9:48:18 PM EDT
[Last Edit: gomulego]
[#9]
I'm just getting started in this at my place with a MUCH more experienced friend that asked if he could try putting 2 hives at my place last year. I only have 12 acres but most of it is in hay with red and white clover and these hives seem to love the clover. These were brand new hives last year though and he wanted to know the other day how they dealt with our kinda tough winter and when I looked (temps over 55F) both hives were extremely active. These bees were going to work!
He lost two hives out of 10 at his place and so he wants to bring two more new ones to my place because he said they were doing so well. I'm buying into it too now because it fascinates the hell out of me and the bees seem to love my hay field. But I personally am just getting started. |
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Posted: 3/9/2021 10:30:50 PM EDT
[#10]
Warm day today, they were going bonkers. Dragging out the dead and hauling them away, snd gathering pollen from who knows where.
They seemed kind of annoyed with me hanging around, checking them out, and let me know. |
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Posted: 3/9/2021 11:00:22 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By fttam: Warm day today, they were going bonkers. Dragging out the dead and hauling them away, snd gathering pollen from who knows where. They seemed kind of annoyed with me hanging around, checking them out, and let me know. Have you looked for evidence of a queen? Being queenless could bee one reason for cranky bees at this time of the year. Most queens should have started laying about now. The "pollen" could be hay/straw dust or saw dust. |
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Posted: 3/10/2021 4:44:10 PM EDT
[#12]
I think most beekeepers will agree that there's some thing mystical about bees and beekeeping. This quote is from L. L. Langstroth, who is largely responsible for the form of the modern Langstroth hive. I think it sums it up nicely.
"The Creator may be seen in all the works of his hands, but none so clearly in the wise economy of the honey bee." |
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Posted: 3/10/2021 9:02:32 PM EDT
[Last Edit: JQ66]
[#13]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rcav8r: Have you looked for evidence of a queen? Being queenless could bee one reason for cranky bees at this time of the year. Most queens should have started laying about now. The "pollen" could be hay/straw dust or saw dust. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rcav8r: Originally Posted By fttam: Warm day today, they were going bonkers. Dragging out the dead and hauling them away, snd gathering pollen from who knows where. They seemed kind of annoyed with me hanging around, checking them out, and let me know. Have you looked for evidence of a queen? Being queenless could bee one reason for cranky bees at this time of the year. Most queens should have started laying about now. The "pollen" could be hay/straw dust or saw dust. There are some trees producing a little bit of pollen right now And I found one of my bees (probably) on a crocus this morning.  Attached FileI saw several today with pollen when I finally was able to get into the boxes to do an inspection and clean up some of the dead bees. Pollen was a very light/pale yellow. Based on the pollen charts, could be some type of maple. It hit 70 degrees here today and has been around 60 during the days the past 4-5 days. But the temps will drop again next week. Two of my hives were dead. They were from splits I tried to get going. Likely not enough bees to go through the winter to help hold the heat in. They made it through part of the winter from how I could see they were eating the sugar on the feeding frame, and they had plenty of honey stored. Three hives still alive, with two of them very strong. I was going through the hive pretty quick, but found one queen, the only one of the original queens that made it through all last year.  Attached File |
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Posted: 3/16/2021 9:36:47 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rcav8r: Have you looked for evidence of a queen? Being queenless could bee one reason for cranky bees at this time of the year. Most queens should have started laying about now. The "pollen" could be hay/straw dust or saw dust. I didn’t dig around for the Queen. Hell, I didn’t even enter the hive, I was just leaning on the fence around the bee yard and they seemed cranky. I’m going to poke in this weekend, and see what I see. |
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Posted: 3/17/2021 12:06:40 AM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By joemama74: Yeah, I guess that is who that is. It looked easier to all the hives into the cooler when he did it on youtube. I need a bigger door on my cooler or smaller pallets on wheels that will fit through my door. I didn't measure, but it looks like a 36" door. I do have some EUR pallets 31.5" x 47.24". I guess if I can squeeze my pallet forks tight enough, I can pick them up from the small end. But I think I'm done building custom stands out of 2x6's. Everything goes on a pallet and move it with a tractor. Really glad you were able to save your bees. You were on my mind in the cold that hit y'all down there. |
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Posted: 3/17/2021 12:10:11 AM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By JQ66: There are some trees producing a little bit of pollen right now And I found one of my bees (probably) on a crocus this morning. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/319879/3568812C-9A9B-4E0C-9EDF-7C73C9258E96_jpe-1866406.JPG I saw several today with pollen when I finally was able to get into the boxes to do an inspection and clean up some of the dead bees. Pollen was a very light/pale yellow. Based on the pollen charts, could be some type of maple. It hit 70 degrees here today and has been around 60 during the days the past 4-5 days. But the temps will drop again next week. Two of my hives were dead. They were from splits I tried to get going. Likely not enough bees to go through the winter to help hold the heat in. They made it through part of the winter from how I could see they were eating the sugar on the feeding frame, and they had plenty of honey stored. Three hives still alive, with two of them very strong. I was going through the hive pretty quick, but found one queen, the only one of the original queens that made it through all last year. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/319879/D51AA01A-4ADF-438A-A0DD-0024F7531797_jpe-1866410.JPG Great shots! |
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Posted: 3/17/2021 12:10:41 AM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By fttam: I didn’t dig around for the Queen. Hell, I didn’t even enter the hive, I was just leaning on the fence around the bee yard and they seemed cranky. I’m going to poke in this weekend, and see what I see. Interested to hear what you find. Fingers crossed you have a solid queen and they were just mad for some reason. |
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Posted: 3/17/2021 6:31:53 PM EDT
[#18]
Good girls.
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Posted: 3/17/2021 6:37:42 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Vespid_Wasp: Good girls. https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/161728181_10115346984307358_8002758949106871784_o.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=ca434c&efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&_nc_ohc=3idEt25W-zcAX9sVgHj&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-1.xx&tp=14&oh=fcde08f7a4c2763aab245c6ba3bb02e7&oe=6076A68C Very nice. That blue dot really stands out. I installed 7 Italian nucs last Saturday and was able to spot the queen in 3 of them. As always seems to be the case, I was in a hurry due to commitments later in the day. All had good patterns, lots of brood, and some honey. I gave them all internal frame feeders with 1:1 syrup and 3 additional frames of drawn comb from those that didn't survive the winter. I'm really looking forward to poking my head back in soon. |
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Posted: 3/17/2021 7:49:54 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By sgt_seti: Very nice. That blue dot really stands out. I installed 7 Italian nucs last Saturday and was able to spot the queen in 3 of them. As always seems to be the case, I was in a hurry due to commitments later in the day. All had good patterns, lots of brood, and some honey. I gave them all internal frame feeders with 1:1 syrup and 3 additional frames of drawn comb from those that didn't survive the winter. I'm really looking forward to poking my head back in soon. Thanks! Tx and Indiana are different worlds when it comes to bees. Very interesting to talk to other beeks. |
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Posted: 3/17/2021 11:31:36 PM EDT
[#21]
Ok talk to me as if I’m dumb....
We’ve had two packages installed in Brushy Mountain 8 frame hives, about 5 years ago 1 each year for consecutive years. Neither of those hives made it through winter, well one made it To the end of March and then died. We did get enough honey/wax from the two to at least justify the costs of the packages. We are starting again with a northern nuc package and new Mann Lake 10 frame set up. If I understand correctly, I will install the package into the brood (shallow) box, feed and give it a week or so. Inspect, if built out, place a second brood box. So is mostly sunny (year round) good placement? When should I put on a homey super? |
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Posted: 3/17/2021 11:49:10 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By WarrenClean: Ok talk to me as if I’m dumb.... We’ve had two packages installed in Brushy Mountain 8 frame hives, about 5 years ago 1 each year for consecutive years. Neither of those hives made it through winter, well one made it To the end of March and then died. We did get enough honey/wax from the two to at least justify the costs of the packages. We are starting again with a northern nuc package and new Mann Lake 10 frame set up. If I understand correctly, I will install the package into the brood (shallow) box, feed and give it a week or so. Inspect, if built out, place a second brood box. So is mostly sunny (year round) good placement? When should I put on a homey super? The deep boxes are the brood boxes. Shallow are honey supers. Unless you are giving them all drawn comb, honey and pollen frames in the first box, it's unlikely you'll be needing a 2nd deep after a week. In fact, give them frames with foundation too, as young bees need to do their job of building comb. The rule of thumb as to when to add another box is when 7 or 8 of the previous boxes frames are filled out. The number one reason for bees not to survive a winter is mites. You MUST learn to do alcohol washes and treat for mites, several times during the season. The other 2 are starvation, and cold, often both. |
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Posted: 3/18/2021 4:02:46 PM EDT
[Last Edit: WarrenClean]
[#23]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rcav8r: The deep boxes are the brood boxes. Shallow are honey supers. Unless you are giving them all drawn comb, honey and pollen frames in the first box, it's unlikely you'll be needing a 2nd deep after a week. In fact, give them frames with foundation too, as young bees need to do their job of building comb. The rule of thumb as to when to add another box is when 7 or 8 of the previous boxes frames are filled out. The number one reason for bees not to survive a winter is mites. You MUST learn to do alcohol washes and treat for mites, several times during the season. The other 2 are starvation, and cold, often both. Ok, we found no evidence of pests/mites with the hives that did not make it, they were treated. We believe it was cold. Oddly, at least to me was the one that made it almost through March, seemed to be doing well the last week of February, being fed via patties and were mite treated throughout the season. 2nd week of March after a cold week, they were dead. These were both Italian queen hives. For the new hive they are northern bred nucs and coming with 5 full frames. That the breeder will place directly into our boxes on pickup. I do think with the other hives we had the boxes (shallow/deep) reversed hence like I said, talk to me as if I’m dumb....lol. Thank you, they’ll be more questions I’m sure. ETA placement? Mostly sunny?, full sun, shade? |
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Posted: 3/18/2021 6:19:18 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By WarrenClean: Ok, we found no evidence of pests/mites with the hives that did not make it, they were treated. We believe it was cold. Oddly, at least to me was the one that made it almost through March, seemed to be doing well the last week of February, being fed via patties and were mite treated throughout the season. 2nd week of March after a cold week, they were dead. These were both Italian queen hives. For the new hive they are northern bred nucs and coming with 5 full frames. That the breeder will place directly into our boxes on pickup. I do think with the other hives we had the boxes (shallow/deep) reversed hence like I said, talk to me as if I’m dumb....lol. Thank you, they’ll be more questions I’m sure. ETA placement? Mostly sunny?, full sun, shade? Did you do mite counts through the season, or just depend on the treatments to do their thing? Depending on where you are, location could be anywhere. Dappled shade is a great compromise. If you are in the south, you're going to want to make sure the hives have lots of ventilation available if there's no shade. The bees will tell you it's too hot by bearding. In the north, you can probably get by with full sun, but again make ventilation available. In most cases, as long as the bees have a good water source, they can control their heat themselves, within reason. My backyard hives have shade in the afternoon. My farm hives are full sun. Some beeks do like to do all shallow boxes, since they are lighter. I tried that, it was a PITA when I wanted to do splits with my other hives that had deeps. Here's something I've read on another beekeeping site. If your hives have the mites under control by Sept 1st, your hive will probably make it though the winter, cause those bees that hatch in 3 weeks are going to be your winter bees. If the mites aren't under control, those bees are going to be battling mites all that fall and winter, and probably lose. Treatment that late isn't going to do squat. This is in WI, so timing might be different elsewhere. |
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Posted: 3/19/2021 1:40:57 AM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rcav8r: Did you do mite counts through the season, or just depend on the treatments to do their thing? Depending on where you are, location could be anywhere. Dappled shade is a great compromise. If you are in the south, you're going to want to make sure the hives have lots of ventilation available if there's no shade. The bees will tell you it's too hot by bearding. In the north, you can probably get by with full sun, but again make ventilation available. In most cases, as long as the bees have a good water source, they can control their heat themselves, within reason. My backyard hives have shade in the afternoon. My farm hives are full sun. Some beeks do like to do all shallow boxes, since they are lighter. I tried that, it was a PITA when I wanted to do splits with my other hives that had deeps. Here's something I've read on another beekeeping site. If your hives have the mites under control by Sept 1st, your hive will probably make it though the winter, cause those bees that hatch in 3 weeks are going to be your winter bees. If the mites aren't under control, those bees are going to be battling mites all that fall and winter, and probably lose. Treatment that late isn't going to do squat. This is in WI, so timing might be different elsewhere. last two times around, the wife was doing the bulk of the beeking, I will be more involved this time, I know we treated for mites, but don't know the particulars. I know we had healthy hives going into the fall, but again don't know the particulars.... We are in eastern PA. |
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Posted: 3/19/2021 11:05:20 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By WarrenClean: ETA placement? Mostly sunny?, full sun, shade? Full sun is great in the early spring. A little shade isn't bad in the dog days of summer. If you have an unused bit of concrete, that makes the hive stands last longer if they are pallets and cuts down on hive beetles. I would prefer full sun over full shade. Late afternoon shade isn't a bad thing. There are a lot of variables that go with that. How far North are you? |
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Posted: 3/20/2021 12:16:35 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Vespid_Wasp: Full sun is great in the early spring. A little shade isn't bad in the dog days of summer. If you have an unused bit of concrete, that makes the hive stands last longer if they are pallets and cuts down on hive beetles. I would prefer full sun over full shade. Late afternoon shade isn't a bad thing. There are a lot of variables that go with that. How far North are you? Eastern end of PA, right in the middle |
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NV, USA
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Posted: 3/30/2021 12:40:42 AM EDT
[#28]
Making a few splits a week ago with some Hawaiian Queens.
    
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Posted: 3/31/2021 7:40:50 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By rustyhawk: Making a few splits a week ago with some Hawaiian Queens. https://i.ibb.co/YLFMqDV/20210317-150329.jpg https://i.ibb.co/CsXFNBt/20210320-154615.jpg https://i.ibb.co/fvZYmmh/20210320-133256.jpg https://i.ibb.co/KqgRpf8/20210322-120940.jpg https://i.ibb.co/CnPZsF1/20210322-121006.jpg Kona or Big Island Queens? |
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Posted: 4/1/2021 5:43:03 PM EDT
[#30]
Beek 101 question:
I started out with topbar hives and had to leave them in NM when I moved. Now I have a Langstroth hive. I was told that when bees are making their own comb, they make different sizes for worker and drone brood; it's this difference that signals the queen to lay a worker or drone egg. With plastic comb foundation, how do the bees make the different sized cells? Or was that idea simply wrong? |
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Posted: 4/1/2021 7:26:53 PM EDT
[#31]
The bees will make the comb the size they want.
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Posted: 4/1/2021 10:40:44 PM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By FrankSymptoms: Beek 101 question: I started out with topbar hives and had to leave them in NM when I moved. Now I have a Langstroth hive. I was told that when bees are making their own comb, they make different sizes for worker and drone brood; it's this difference that signals the queen to lay a worker or drone egg. With plastic comb foundation, how do the bees make the different sized cells? Or was that idea simply wrong? The structure of the foundation serves only as a guide. They will make drone comb as they see fit. |
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Posted: 4/1/2021 11:36:45 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge: The structure of the foundation serves only as a guide. They will make drone comb as they see fit. Truth. I used small-cell foundation for a while, and I do believe that is a viable option and that it may have some beneficial outcomes. But if the bees want to build a different sized cell, they can, and will. We are bee "keepers." Not bee rulers. They gonna do what they wanna do. Probably a very good thing. |
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Posted: 4/2/2021 9:02:09 AM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: Truth. I used small-cell foundation for a while, and I do believe that is a viable option and that it may have some beneficial outcomes. But if the bees want to build a different sized cell, they can, and will. We are bee "keepers." Not bee rulers. They gonna do what they wanna do. Probably a very good thing. In other words... bees are like cats? 
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Posted: 4/4/2021 7:51:57 PM EDT
[#35]
I'm building my first Langstroth hive.
I finished all the hive boxes (2 large and 1 small) and am building the frames. I filled the large box, which will be my brood chamber, and found that I have **almost** enough room for an 11th frame; if I shaved just a little wood off one or two of the endbars, I could squeeze it into the hive. Is it normal to have that much extra space? Should I put an end board to fill the gap, space the frames equally to use the extra space, or shove all the frames one way and leave a large gap at one end and install a sofa and TV lounge?  Attached File |
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Posted: 4/4/2021 10:41:08 PM EDT
[#36]
Yes that space is normal. Push all of the frames together and then center them to maintain proper bee space.
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Posted: 4/6/2021 3:11:32 PM EDT
[Last Edit: FrankSymptoms]
[#37]
I just pulled the trigger on a package plus a marked queen! Ordering from Barnyard Bees anyone know anything about them?
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Posted: 4/6/2021 3:30:28 PM EDT
[#38]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge: Yes that space is normal. Push all of the frames together and then center them to maintain proper bee space. This. Make sure you keep them together snug or the bees will draw out longer comb and you will wind up with frames that can only go together a certain way. Certain circumstances make it very nice to be able to move a few frames. You will enjoy the langstroth hive. I dont understand the appeal of top bar hives myself. They make every manipulation more difficult. |
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Posted: 4/8/2021 3:10:09 AM EDT
[Last Edit: JQ66]
[#39]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By FrankSymptoms: I just pulled the trigger on a package plus a marked queen! Ordering from Barnyard Bees anyone know anything about them? My Dad ordered four packages from BYB last year. (A few days before he died) They are generally pretty good docile bees. Only during the dearth did the get agitated and more than a little defensive I still have as of last week one of the original queens. And two other original colonies. I tried some splits but neither made it through the winter. I did lose one hive right off last year, but there was a deep freeze in may, and had I did a bit more maybe wouldn’t have. They all just froze. The one that still has the original queen may have had an unmarked queen in the package. Because about as week or two after I installed them, over half the bees were just gone. But she was a productive queen and built up the population quickly. I did have problems keeping queens in the other two original hives during the dearth. They were doing so well up to that time. I ordered two new packages from him to arrive early may. Also ordered a couple Saskatraz from Mann lake to see how they do here. |
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TX, USA
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Posted: 4/11/2021 4:37:17 PM EDT
[#40]
Went into my hive today and I guess I'm a bit late. I couldn't find my original queen but I did find one inside a queen cell, she was cleaning up after herself I guess.
Should I just make a split with her, she's in a queen clip inside the top of the old hive. Should I put her in a new box with brood and honey? |
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TX, USA
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Posted: 4/11/2021 4:41:39 PM EDT
[#41]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By jaymac426: Went into my hive today and I guess I'm a bit late. I couldn't find my original queen but I did find one inside a queen cell, she was cleaning up after herself I guess. Should I just make a split with her, she's in a queen clip inside the top of the old hive. Should I put her in a new box with brood and honey? There may be more than one emerged queen, the bees were kinda pissed... |
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Posted: 4/12/2021 1:50:06 PM EDT
[#42]
Does anyone have any experience with the Varroagate mite control device?
 I'm starting off with a brand-new hive and would like to see if it works. |
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Posted: 4/12/2021 5:14:25 PM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By FrankSymptoms: Does anyone have any experience with the Varroagate mite control device? https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e0/44/79/e044799a52b91aba37692d455c779cb9.jpg I'm starting off with a brand-new hive and would like to see if it works. I don’t think it has been approved for use in the United States and I haven’t seen much written about it in a while. My advice is stick with what works. Sample monthly by doing alcohol washes, treat when thresholds are met and sample after treatment to make sure that the treatments applied actually worked at reducing the mite population down to acceptable levels. The products used should be chosen based on a detailed understanding of what is going on in your hives as well things like hive configurations, time of year, current and future weather and nectar flows, etc. we have had great success with using Apivar beginning in late August when we pull our honey and follow up with one treatment of OAV in late November when they are broodless. If monitoring where to indicate more treatments were necessary, I would make that decision based on the above information. We also rotate every year or two and will be using Thymol based products this fall (Apiguard) |
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Posted: 4/12/2021 9:53:57 PM EDT
[#44]
Looks like I'll be getting bees again...sort of.
Guy down the road who has helped me a bunch asked for a hive for his daughter. I dug my stuff out of the shed and put a hive together with everything except frames. He bought frames from an Amish guy down the road. Then he said, "why don't you pull out some more and we'll set up hives here?" I said, "It's too late to get packages this year." He said, "Amish guy has a truck load coming next week. He says I can have some." Me: Well, hell. Okay. So..here we go. I don't expect anything other than basic packages but it he is buying, and all I'm doing is providing the boxes and a bit of knowhow, I'm in. Will be really nice to smell an active hive again. That always raised my spirits.
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Posted: 4/13/2021 1:52:04 PM EDT
[Last Edit: cuttingedge]
[#45]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs: Looks like I'll be getting bees again...sort of. Guy down the road who has helped me a bunch asked for a hive for his daughter. I dug my stuff out of the shed and put a hive together with everything except frames. He bought frames from an Amish guy down the road. Then he said, "why don't you pull out some more and we'll set up hives here?" I said, "It's too late to get packages this year." He said, "Amish guy has a truck load coming next week. He says I can have some." Me: Well, hell. Okay. So..here we go. I don't expect anything other than basic packages but it he is buying, and all I'm doing is providing the boxes and a bit of knowhow, I'm in. Will be really nice to smell an active hive again. That always raised my spirits. That's awesome  I am sure that you miss it! |
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Posted: 4/14/2021 1:46:42 AM EDT
[#46]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cuttingedge: That's awesome I am sure that you miss it!I do miss it. I don't have time for it, but hopefully the partner will help with that issue. |
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Posted: 4/19/2021 7:13:23 PM EDT
[#47]
Whew. Almost missed out on getting my bees this year. Left a email this past weekend to double check that I was on the list.
I wasn't, for some reason, but they were happy to take my order. 6 packages. I have to hustle and get those layens hives ready. probably won't have time to make the individual stands for the langs though. |
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Posted: 4/20/2021 11:04:09 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By FrankSymptoms: I'm building my first Langstroth hive. I finished all the hive boxes (2 large and 1 small) and am building the frames. I filled the large box, which will be my brood chamber, and found that I have **almost** enough room for an 11th frame; if I shaved just a little wood off one or two of the endbars, I could squeeze it into the hive. Is it normal to have that much extra space? Should I put an end board to fill the gap, space the frames equally to use the extra space, or shove all the frames one way and leave a large gap at one end and install a sofa and TV lounge? https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/87116/11th_frame_jpg-1893147.JPG Yes, the others are correct. Do NOT shave the frames. Langstroth hives are successful because of "bee space" which is a sacred thing. The edges on the frames, and the whole design, is set to allow bee space. If you don't know about bee space, it is an interesting study, and one worth your time.
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Posted: 4/21/2021 1:12:21 PM EDT
[#49]
I knew about "bee space" from my previous hives, but as I said, there's a HUGE gap, almost enough for an additional frame.
So someone suggested fitting a 'follower board' there. I used something similar in my top bar hives, should I do this here? Or put in a bee feeder? I think that if I leave the gap, either one gap on the end of the hive or a smaller gap on each side, that they'll fill it with comb. |
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Posted: 4/21/2021 1:18:46 PM EDT
[Last Edit: FrankSymptoms]
[#50]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Vespid_Wasp: This. Make sure you keep them together snug or the bees will draw out longer comb and you will wind up with frames that can only go together a certain way. Certain circumstances make it very nice to be able to move a few frames. You will enjoy the langstroth hive. I dont understand the appeal of top bar hives myself. They make every manipulation more difficult. Top bar hives are supposed to create a 'more natural space' for the bees, allowing them to draw out the comb naturally. I found them to be hard to work with. One complaint is that they'll build honey comb in the top 1/2 to 1/3 of the frame, then fill the rest with brood; come harvest time, the brood must be destroyed to harvest the honey. Much of the comb past the center of the hive was almost pure honey, but there still was brood to deal with. ETA One attraction of TBHs is that you don't need to move supers to get to the rest of the hive; you remove the top cover and all the frames are available to you. I did notice that there was a lot of cross-comb building, despite the spacing I'd built into the hive. At this time, let me add that I deeply appreciate the assistance I've received from this thread and the people who inhabit it! Kitties-with-Sigs (I love that name!), props to you for moderating this thread! There's a great quote from Rev. Langstroth in my sig line. |
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